Various electronic instruments are mounted on a motor vehicle as a vehicle. The motor vehicle is provided with a wiring harness which transmits electric power from an electric source such as a battery and transmits control signals from control devices to the electronic instruments. The wiring harness includes a plurality of electric wires (hereinafter, wires) and connectors attached to ends and so on of the wires.
Each wire is a so-called coated wire which includes an electrically conductive core wire and an electrically insulating coating that coats the core wire. Each connector includes terminal fittings, each of which is electrically connected to the core wire of the wire, and an insulating connector housing which receives the terminal fittings. The connector is to be coupled with a connector of the electronic instrument. Thus, the wiring harness transmits the electric power and various signals to the electronic instruments.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a wiring harness fixing device 101 is used to fix a wiring harness 107 on a panel 100 that constitutes a vehicle body of a motor vehicle. The wiring harness fixing device 101 integrally includes a flat plate-shaped mount 102 and an engaging part 103. The wiring harness fixing device 101 is made of synthetic resin.
The engaging part 103 integrally includes a standing piece 104, which stands up from the mount 102, and a pair of engaging pieces 105. The engaging pieces 105 continue to each other at an end thereof. The end of the pair of engaging pieces 105 continues to the tip of the standing piece 104, the tip being away from the mount 102. Opposite ends of the respective engaging pieces 105 are away from each other having a distance therebetween and having a distance from the standing piece 104.
Each engaging piece 105 gradually approaches toward the mount 102 as extending from the one end to the opposite end. The engaging pieces 105 gradually parts from each other and from the standing piece 104 as extending from the one end to the opposite end. The pair of the engaging pieces 105 is formed in a mountain-shape from a side view thereof. Each opposite end of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 is provided with a notch 106. The notch 106 is formed by notching an outer edge of the opposite end of the corresponding engaging pieces 105. The pair of the engaging pieces 105 can be elastically deformed in a direction that the opposites ends of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 approach toward each other.
The wires of the wiring harness 107 are put on the mount 102 and a tape 108 is wound up on the outer circumference of the mount 102 and the wires, thereby the wiring harness fixing device 101 is fixed to the wiring harness 107.
Then, the pair of the engaging pieces 105 is inserted into a hole 109 formed in the panel 100. The pair of the engaging pieces 105 is once elastically deformed in a direction that the opposites ends of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 approach toward each other. Thereafter, when each opposite end of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 is inserted into the corresponding hole 109, the opposite ends of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 is displaced in a direction that the opposites ends of the pair of the engaging pieces 105 part away from each other by an elastic recovering force. Then, the notch 106 comes in contact with an inner edge of the hole 109. Thus, the engaging part 103 is engaged with the hole 109 formed in the panel 100. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the wiring harness fixing device 101 fixes the wiring harness 107 on the panel 100.
When the wiring harness 107 fixed on the panel 100 with the wiring harness fixing device 101 is removed from the panel 100, an end of the wiring harness 107 is displaced in a direction of moving away from the panel 100 along an arrow K shown in FIG. 8. Then, the tape 108 is cut as shown in FIG. 9, thereby the wiring harness 107 is removed from the panel 100.
In the wiring harness fixing device 101, the tape 108 is cut so as to remove the wiring harness 107 from the panel 100. Therefore, the wiring harness 107 must be displaced in a direction of moving away from the panel 100 causing a problem for a worker that the wiring harness 107 is hard to be removed from the panel 100.
Further, in the wiring harness fixing device 101, even if the wiring harness 107 is removed from the panel 100, the engaging part 103 is still engaged with the hole 109 of the panel 100, that is, still attached on the panel 100. Since the engaging part 103 is engaged in the hole 109 of the panel 100, it is difficult to remove the wiring harness fixing device 101 from the panel 100. That is, it is difficult to easily remove the wiring harness fixing device 101 from the panel 100 of a motor vehicle that becomes unnecessary. Such a situation is undesirable from the viewpoint of saving of resources.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a wiring harness fixing device, by which a wiring harness can be easily removed from a panel of a motor vehicle and the saving of resources can be attained.